Before They Were Pirates
Author's Notes: Here is the first of the promised bonus chapters. These won't all have the same format as the previous chapters (with the frame story and the flashback in the middle), though this one does actually keep that format. This features Zoro and his brain damaged navigationally challenged self. The frame story picks up immediately after the events at the end of his chapter of this fic and the flashback...well, you'll have to read to find out. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to hearing what you think. Please review. Thanks.
Bonus Chapter Ten - Zoro: Home Sweet Sunny
Zoro escaped to the crow's nest as soon as the crew made it back to the Sunny and got under way. He settled down to meditate after blocking the trap door with one of his larger weights to ensure most of the others would have to leave him alone. Luffy could get through it, but Luffy could get through just about any obstacle so trying to keep him out was a waste of energy. Zoro just hoped his captain would be distracted enough to not come looking for him. The only other members of the crew strong enough to get in easily were Franky, who rarely came up to the crow's nest unless he had watch, and the stupid cook, who would hopefully be busy organizing the supplies and making dinner.
It took him about an hour to settle his emotions and memories back into something vaguely resembling his usual control; then he got up to do some light training. He was somewhere around a thousand pushups when he started to let his mind wander again.
His navigational issues were a nearly constant source of frustration for the stoic swordsman and adding them to thoughts of his childhood had set him off in a way that hadn't happened in years. Of course, the loss of control had aggravated him further. He could barely concentrate when he got back to the ship which is why he had ended up in the weight room, slash watch post.
The crow's nest was easily the room on the Sunny where he had spent the most time and he had a great excuse for that fact, since Franky had set it up for training and the swordsman did more of that than anyone else aboard. However, that wasn't what had drawn the green haired man to the place to begin with.
He could still vividly recall his first glimpse of the Thousand Sunny.
When Iceburg had revealed the large and cheerfully painted ship, the others reacted with varying levels of awe and excitement. Zoro took one look at the large vessel and felt his stomach twist in dread.
Navigating the Going Merry had been easy enough. Even he couldn't get turned around for more than a moment or two on the tiny caravel. No one had ever seemed to notice his occasional hesitation as he got his bearings before heading for the galley or below deck.
This new ship was massive by comparison and it was going to take him forever to find anything. Someone was bound to question him about it.
Still, he forced some enthusiasm for Luffy's sake as he followed his nakama up the gangplank. The grass on the deck was an odd touch but it would be good for sleeping on. That could be handy if he couldn't find his bunk. High on the mast was a bright yellow room which he assumed was intended to be the crow's nest; though he'd never seen one enclosed that way. There were doors and hatches that led deeper into the ship but he didn't dare explore further just yet.
He'd look around after everyone else went to sleep. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought.
It was worse than he thought.
Zoro groaned as he ended up in the galley instead of the men's quarters for the fourth time in less than an hour. Thankfully, it was still early enough that the pervy cook wasn't yet up to make breakfast.
The swordsman had taken the first watch and had been thrilled to find out the domed crow's nest was also set up to be used as a weight room and training space. That was great because he'd quickly discovered over the course of the day that he could easily see the bright yellow and red thing from anywhere on deck. It became his anchor point. If he got turned around, which happened often, he'd follow that landmark back to the mast and start again.
Chopper had asked him about the frequent backtracking before dinner. Zoro had claimed it was training and the naive reindeer hadn't questioned him further. In a way it wasn't even a lie. Unfortunately he was trying to train his brain to process information that it blatantly refused to interpret correctly. Still, the stubborn swordsman was never one to give up.
After Robin relieved him at midnight, the green haired man had set out to find some way of navigating the winding corridors and many rooms of his new home. His nakama might tease him for getting turned around in unfamiliar cities, but it wasn't something that was terribly unusual; lots of people had that sort of trouble. Only rare people like the witch could go somewhere they had never been and not make the occasional wrong turn. However, the others would definitely figure out something was seriously wrong with him if he never figured out how to find the freaking bathroom on their own ship.
Unfortunately, he'd been wandering for hours and had yet to find any reliable method of getting where he wanted to go. Following the walls took too long and sent him all over the deck of the ship on unnecessary detours that would attract questions. The doors all looked the same too and there were no signs to tell what each room was for without looking inside. Below decks was worse, with ladders and hatches that were even harder to make sense of than the rooms above.
He finally gave up for the night after he had a shoe thrown at him by a bleary eyed Nami when he accidentally opened the door to the girl's room. Upon making it back to the middle of the grassy deck; the lost swordsman flopped down near the railing in frustration and closed his eyes to grab a couple hours sleep before dawn.
A week later, Zoro was still struggling.
Thankfully, his misguided wanderings had so far elicited no comments because most of the crew was still exploring the ship as well. It was huge and had all sorts of secrets built in. He was sure that was great for everyone else, but it was giving him a headache.
He spent his days training in the crow's nest or napping on deck. The naps got him yelled at for laziness by the orange haired witch but he brushed that off as easily as he did the attempted kicks from the curlybrowed idiot, when the moron tried to back up the woman's screeching.
The sleep was needed because he had spent a large portion of every night silently exploring the ship. He had made it to the men's quarters to sleep only twice since they'd set out from Water 7. The other nights had been spent out under the stars on the lawn; which had garnered him some funny looks from the early risers among the crew when it poured rain one night.
After two weeks had passed, Zoro was beginning to think his efforts were in vain. The swordsman had given up his nightly explorations as a fruitless exercise. He had managed to avoid suspicion by following others to meals and spending the majority of the rest of his day in the crow's nest. On the plus side, he'd done a lot of extra training.
On the downside, it took him half an hour at least to find the bathroom; every freaking time.
The swordsman was stretched out on the deck, attempting to catch an afternoon nap; when yelling disturbed his thoughts.
"I said OUT! Dinner will be ready in an hour!" The cook's shouts were punctuated with the sound of shoes hitting rubbery flesh and the crunch of wood as a kick missed and took a chunk out of the edge of the galley door.
"But Sanji...!" Luffy whined pathetically.
"Oi! Don't break my ship!" Franky shouted at both of the culprits; which earned him a glare from the cook and a sheepish look from the captain.
The galley door slammed closed and Luffy slumped in momentary defeat before Usopp managed to lure him into a distracting game of tag.
Franky eyed the dented door and frowned before stomping off to finish another project he had been working on.
Zoro closed his eye again and dozed off without giving the incident further thought.
"Robin-chwan! Nami-swan! Your lovingly prepared meal is ready!" The perverted cook's voice floated over the deck at its most sickeningly sweet, before it returned to his usual tone as he continued. "The rest of you idiots can come eat too!"
Zoro stretched and made his way to his feet; glancing around for someone to trail into the galley. Instead, his eye caught on the dented door, the missing chunk of wood setting it apart from the other doors on the deck. He hesitated until everyone had vanished into the dining area before he moved.
The navigationally challenged man was careful not to take his gaze off the damaged wooden boards until he had his hand on the door handle. He suppressed a grin of victory as he opened the door to reveal his nakama already at the table.
The green haired swordsman sat down to eat, but his mind was on this new discovery. He barely paid attention as he batted Luffy's thieving hands away on reflex chewing thoughtfully. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before.
When he'd first discovered his problem, Doctor Shen had hung pictures on all the doors in his home. As long as he knew which door had which picture, and he kept his eye on the picture he wanted when he was moving, he couldn't get lost. Likewise, his sensei had provided colored marks for him to follow in the dojo; when he had finally, reluctantly, explained to the sword master that his continual tardiness to lessons wasn't because he was lazy or rebellious. It was because he couldn't find the training hall.
He hadn't had a permanent home since, at least not one big enough to need such marks, but he realized they would solve a lot of his troubles.
He was pulled from his memories as Franky loudly complained about the damage to his ship and warned the captain and cook not to do it again.
"I'll fix it after dinner, but next time be more careful. Breaking my ship is definitely not SUPER."
Zoro's good mood fell flat. He should have considered that. Now he had a new problem. He had to find a way of marking the doors with some system he could follow, but it had to be something their new shipwright wouldn't feel the need to fix or attempt to beat the crap out of him for.
He scowled and stabbed Luffy's reaching hand with his fork grouchily. This was going to require more thought.
Zoro scratched a thin line into the newly repaired galley door the next night and then walked away from it to the base of the mast before turning back to look for the small mark.
He grimaced as he couldn't see the mark on any of the doors. It was too small, especially at night. Tiredly he trudged over and checked the first door he came to, pulling it open just a crack before shutting it hastily as he realized he had actually managed to find the men's quarters for once and he didn't want to wake his sleeping crewmates.
The swordsman trailed his hand along the wall until he reached the next door, which turned out to be the bathroom. He took advantage of that find and then continued his search. Moving on he came to the stairs and followed them up and the railing around until he came to the next door; which was locked, meaning it was the women's room. He kept on moving around the perimeter of the lawn deck until he finally reached the door inscribed with the tiny mark he had made earlier. He sighed in relief as he knew he had found the galley again. He was using the kitchen for his experiment because it was one of the only places fairly certain to be unoccupied in the middle of the night. The only way anyone would be in there would be if Luffy tried to sneak a midnight snack, but the captain was hardly quiet. Zoro was fairly sure he'd hear the rubber man long before he got caught.
'Maybe if I make the mark a little bigger...' The green haired man mused; scratching the wooden barrier with a knife he had borrowed from Usopp.
"Oi. Zoro-bro. What are you doing?" A somewhat stern voice from behind him froze the swordsman in place for a moment. How had he let Franky sneak up on him? Someone that big and half made of metal shouldn't be able to move that quietly.
The first mate turned around slowly, feigning his usual calm as he looked at the curious and clearly unhappy shipwright. "I'm...uh...getting some sake while the stupid cook isn't around to cause a fuss." He forced a smirk to support his story.
The cyborg lifted his sunglasses and eyed the younger man doubtfully. "Right...so what does that have to do with vandalizing my ship?" He asked slowly, his expression clearly telling the younger man that the explanation had better be good.
Zoro's facade fell. He sucked at lying anyway. Suddenly, all the weeks of sleep being grabbed at odd intervals on the noisy deck and his many hours spent fruitlessly trying to navigate the huge ship seemed to catch up to him all at once. He sagged back against the wall next to the kitchen door with a frustrated sigh, closing his eyes. He was caught; time to face it like a man.
"I was trying to mark the door." He explained tiredly.
"Huh?" The blue haired man blinked curiously, his anger fading at the genuine weariness in the young swordsman's confession. "Why?"
Zoro ran a hand through his hair and scowled. "So I can tell the rooms apart." He blurted, which seemed to only confuse the shipwright further.
Franky raised an eyebrow. "You...can't tell the doors apart?"
Zoro looked away, willing down the blush that was trying to heat his cheeks. "No, I can't." He admitted. "This thing is like a maze." He grumbled automatically.
Franky's eyes narrowed at the perceived insult to his ship but he could tell it was just an excuse; something almost reflexive to the green haired man. That deflection spoke of a deeper issue that Zoro clearly didn't want to share.
"It does have a lot more rooms than the Going Merry, I suppose." The shipwright finally said slowly; not missing how quickly the younger man latched onto the idea as Zoro looked up at him and nodded.
"Right." The swordsman said quickly. "I mean...anybody would get turned around."
"Sure. SUPER easy to get mixed up." The newest Strawhat agreed amiably; intelligent eyes still calculating as he watched his young crewmate. "So, any ideas that might help people find their way around more easily?"
Zoro's eyes lit up in hope but he was quick to cover his excitement with a shrug. "It might help if all the doors didn't look the same...or you could put up signs or numbers or something."
Franky considered the idea thoughtfully before nodding. "I'll see what I can do."
Zoro nodded, still slightly mortified that he'd had to confide even part of his problem to anyone. "Thanks. I'm...gonna go to bed then." He turned and started away, intent on locating his desired destination.
"Oi, Zoro-bro." The blue haired man's voice brought him to a halt after less than a dozen steps. "The room you want is that way."
Zoro couldn't fight the blush that rose as he turned around. He stomped over to where he thought Franky was pointing; only to come to a confused halt, staring into the aquarium bar.
He sighed as he felt the shipwright walk up behind him.
"I'll make you a deal." The older man offered evenly. "I won't tell anyone about...this; so long as I don't find out you've been vandalizing my ship...Ever Again. Deal?"
Zoro closed his eyes and nodded without turning around, not wanting the older pirate to see the blush he could feel burning his cheeks. "Deal."
"SUPER." The cyborg clapped the younger man on the back and then used the gesture to steer the swordsman to his destination without further attempts at verbal directions. "Now, go to sleep so I can get back to my watch." He opened the men's bunk room door and nudged the first mate man inside to ensure he didn't get turned around again.
Zoro let himself be guided silently; too tired to worry about his already bruised pride any more for the night. He looked around the room of mostly occupied box-like hammocks and yawned. He didn't even actually know which one was supposed to be his own in the nearly dark space; he'd only slept in the thing a couple of times anyway. The two empty bunks were his own and Franky's but he wasn't sure which was which. A moment later, his sleepy gaze caught on the couch by the wall and he made his way to it without so much as another glance at the hanging bunk beds.
He fell asleep almost at once.
Zoro snorted at the fond but embarrassing memory as he wiped his face with a towel before he moved on to practicing his katas. Franky was a good guy. The cyborg hadn't ever said a word to anyone about his early issues navigating the ship, at least not as far as the first mate could tell.
The swordsman had simply awakened the next morning to find that the talented shipwright had quietly attached numbers on the doorframes for each area on the ship. In just a few hours, Zoro had memorized which number corresponded with each room and he could get around the deck without too much excess wandering.
Even coming back after two years; it hadn't been overly hard to pick the knack back up.
Zoro could admit to himself that he still got turned around below decks, but he rarely needed to go down there alone anyway so he wasn't overly concerned about it.
A heavy thump against the trapdoor pulled the swordsman from his thoughts and his training.
"Zoro! Why is the door stuck?" Luffy's voice drifted up through the blocked hatch. "Hey! Sanji says dinner's ready and I can't eat until I get you to come down because you missed lunch!"
The first mate blinked. He hadn't realized so much time had passed. It had only been a little past ten when he'd locked himself in.
The trapdoor shuddered again as Luffy reinforced how serious the situation was. "Come on, Zoro! I'm hungry!"
The green haired man hurried over to the hatch and moved the barricade he had put in place, before Luffy could break through it. "Go tell that curlybrowed mother hen that I'll be down in a minute!" He growled as he jerked the door up and scowled down at his captain's grinning face. Just thinking about the annoying cook was enough to fracture the control he had regained over the course of the day and he took a couple deep breaths to calm his mind.
"Kay!" Luffy dropped from the rigging like a stone and bounced off to the galley, shouting. "Zoro's coming! Can I eat now!?"
Sighing as he realized that he had his emotional balance as steady as it was going to get without a long nap and a good fight; Zoro climbed most of the way down before he jumped to the deck. The perpetually lost man stood there for a moment, looking around to get his bearings. Finally, he locked his eye on the small number three beside the door to the galley and set out across the deck confidently.
To be Continued...
Author's Note: I hope you liked it. Franky is hard to write seriously but I have seen him show surprising empathy and restraint when dealing with people he cares for so I hope he doesn't seem out of character. I did my best. There is one more chapter that picks up after this one. I have already written it and just need to edit it a bit before I post it. It will not contain a flashback. Thank you for reading. Please review.